Works of literature that are read in eras long after their own tend to be marked by two important characters. The first of these is that they tell a compelling story, usually involving the values that have been important to most human societies, such as courage and loyalty and passion. The other reason that some works endure while others fade away until their last readers are nothing but memories is the quality of the language. We continue to read Vergil's "The Aeniad" for both of these reasons, for it tells a glorious story and does so gloriously. Much of the power of Vergil's writing arises from his use of similes - something that can be transmitted across the imprecision of translation. This paper examines two specific similes that Vergil uses - or rather creates - and the reasons why they are so compelling.
"The Aeniad" relates the story of Aeneas, son of the goddess Aphrodite and the mortal Anchises. These characters appear in Homer's sagas, but Vergil chose to tell a different version of their story, one in which Aeneas, after the sack of Troy, carries his father from the burning city and sets out with a band of followers to establish a new nation. After wandering in the wilderness for many years (as must so many heroes) Aeneas arrives (according to Vergil) in Italy, where he will found the colony that will become Rome - thus linking Rome's destiny to Trojan glories. Aeneas's most compelling trait is not his perseverance or his courage, however, but his piety, for he is at all times both deeply devoted to his gods as well as his family and his people.
Two of the striking - and effective, both in terms of establishing the tone of the passage and in terms of illuminating the characters - are the simile in Book One in which Dido is compared to Diana and Vergil's simile when he compares Aeneas to Apollo in Book Four.
In the passage that immediately precedes that in which Vergil compares Dido to Diana, Vergil introduced the c...